Embodiments of the inventive concept relate generally to electronic memory technologies. More particularly, embodiments of the inventive concept relate to technologies for reducing power consumption in a memory link architecture.
It is common for electronic devices to include multiple processors and/or memories. For example, a portable electronic device may include a communication processor for performing communication functions, a multimedia processor for processing multimedia data, and so on. In addition, such a device may include a nonvolatile memory for mass data storage, and a volatile memory to be used as a working memory for one or more processors.
Various technologies have been developed to facilitate the interoperation of these multiple processors and memories. One such technology is a memory link architecture (MLA), which can create a link between two different memories via a processor. A typical MLA comprises a volatile memory device such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), a nonvolatile memory device such as a flash memory, and a memory controller connected between the volatile memory device and the nonvolatile memory device. The volatile memory device is typically a multi-port memory device that can be accessed simultaneously through different ports by the memory controller and another device, such as a host central processing unit (CPU). This allows the CPU to access the nonvolatile memory to execute processes, while simultaneously allowing the memory controller to transfer data between the volatile memory device and the nonvolatile memory device.
One drawback of conventional MLAs is that they may consume power unnecessarily when the flash memory is in a standby mode or when the CPU is not actively using the volatile memory. Accordingly, new techniques are needed to improve the power management of MLAs.